3rd Gen feeling NG loose/sloppy at 38k, thoughts?

my general rule is the more "aggressive" the tread the more frequently they need to be rotated. I had toyo open countries that wore like this, not as bad as yours, but similar. You need to cross rotate them to get the wear pattern more even and rotate every 5k.

 

I too seldom use the parking brake during the summer, and only if parking on an incline to avoid putting the weight of the truck on the transmission.

Then during the winter I never used the parking brake since there is a chance for the brake shoes and pads to freeze (stick to the drums or disks).

 

My truck does this too, it only started doing it after I put my good year duratrac tires on though. So that I blame on the lugs of the tires stretching and rebounding back when I come to a stop.
My tires have also worn pretty badly, and balancing them has been a nightmare, so at this point I am just waiting till they are worn down more to get something better.

 

Could some of what your describing be from extra bounce from work out shocks? Have you had your alignment checked or jacked up your truck and wiggled the wheels to check for bad bushings, etc?

 

Thanks @Bishop84, I’m glad I’m not the only one that dislike the Duratracs! I called Goodyear, but I’m not interested in some prorated discount towards a new set, I told them to just rest assured I’ll never own another set. I still can’t believe how much the dealer got me for them, but I loved the look and wanted the truck! I’m getting ready to upgrade and lift, if this turns out not to be a transmission problem. Hopefully that will help!

So I typically rotate and bring the rears forward and cross rotate the front to the rear. Are you saying I should have rotated both rears forward and front backwards? rotate careers when I bring them for it as well?

Interesting what you said about the leaf springs. The only “abuse” this truck is probably way exceeding the payload rating a few times for about 15-20 miles—hauling a pallet and a 1/2 of tile. I also swear the truck sits lower than it used to. I have no way to check, but I’m wondering if I could’ve stretched out the leaf springs in such a short time?

Thanks for the feedback @t0p_d0g… “transmission” is the key work I hope and pray does not come out of the technician’s mouth! lol

Thanks @saint277! Yeah like I said above I’ve been crossing once I bring them to the rear. Also, I know I was bad this interval, but before that I have been rotating every 5k.

Thanks @RayInAalaska … yeah I know it’s technically the right thing to do, but I don’t think I ever have (with an automatic) and I’ve never had an issue. I’ve had to have logged well in excess of a half a million miles in my life.

@5nahalf, wow, yeah that sucks. That was sort of my theory to begin with, until I popped back on my old tires and I still am feeling the sloppiness. Good luck with your tires in finding something better. If I keep this truck, I’ll be changing out the Duratracs soon!

@Mach, good point, and I tried to investigate that… I tried to wiggle wheels myself but didn’t feel any play. Then I also removed the dust covers to inspect if there was any leaking in the shocks and did not see any. I swear the truck is a lot rougher than it was though.

 

Update/“verdict”: I took it to a dealership that I trust. They sent a technician with me for a test drive (and he owns a Tacoma) to show him where I was feeling what I was feeling. We discussed different things and I asked him different things to check — such as motor and transmission mounts, etc. He then took the vehicle on his own test drive and proceeded to go through it for another hour or so in the shop. They came back and said nothing was wrong with the truck!

So I went back and drove it for the next day and a half to two days, and it seemed to drive even worse than before. I not only felt what I was feeling when my car came to a complete rest on the rebound, I also was feeling more settling when starting to move forward from a stop light. I kept going back to thinking something to do with the driveshaft and/or differential, especially since I thought those gears have had too much play in them since the day I got the truck. (And excessive roll when in park, ans discussed above.)

I also started feeling more vibrations when decelerating, right before I stop. Sometimes it almost feel like the car was idling too low and was going to stall… but I believe it’s just vibrations.

Today I put back on my steel rims and tires from my old SR5. Although the truck rides incredibly smooth, I still feel something going on “down there” — mostly through my seat and a little bit in my accelerator pedal. When I had the rear rims off, and the brake were not engaged, I turned the drums back-and-forth, and I didn’t like the feel or sound of it. I’m not a material and I can only describe it as feeling sloppy and having too much play.

So, after some discussions with others, I’m now thinking it could be too much backlash in the differential! The truck just hit 39,000 miles though. I know it doesn’t make sense but that’s what I’m thinking it could be. I’m going to try to post a video below and be open to anyone’s feedback. Thanks in advance!

 

Mine does this too and I have been under the assumption that it is indeed from the transmission staying engaged as long as possible resulting in a moment of low rpm vibration before it disengages. In general our trucks seem to have been engineered with all choices going towards utility instead of choosing to smooth out the rough edges such as this. My guess is they tuned things to keep the drivetrain engaged as long as possible when decelerating in order to squeeze out a tiny fraction bit more fuel economy.

 

@Mach, that’s interesting. I’m glad I’m not the only one feeling it. But have you felt it the whole time you’ve had the truck? I’m asking because I’ve had since new, but it seems to have gotten worse but I only have 39,000 miles. (The other day I had a bottle of soda in the front drink holder I couldn’t believe how much it was vibrating as I came to a stop. That was when I had the inferior off-road Duratracs on though, so I attributed that extra vibration to those.)

 

I have a 2022 with a few more miles than you. Bought it used less than a year ago. I wasnt very aware of it until somewhat recently but think it was always there since I bought it. Started really noticing it on this one road with a lot of stop signs. Would love to hear what others think.

 

The reason I asked about shocks is because the OR shocks are really bouncy even when new so a bit of nose dive is normal and if they were worn I could see it really having an effect. On my old SUV with worn shocks it would feel like a total loss of control when going over rises unless I tapped the breaks to control it.

I replaced my front shocks with 6112s and the nose dive completely went away.

Also the rear of our trucks are prone to some axle wrap. I put a oem 1in spacer on my rear and it definitely amplifies it a little bit.

 

I planning to go change my differential fluid In the next few hours. Because, in my case, I swear it’s something with the differential going on among other things. When I accelerate, it seems like there’s too much lag time for my wheels engage. I used to blame that on the transmission, but it didn’t happen with my other Tacoma.

You’re totally right about the shocks on the OR, Much too bouncing for my liking. As I put more miles on them, when I go over some railroad tracks or some large expansion joints on overpasses, as the truck rebounds, I feel like I’m going to start moving sideways

I did plan on doing a suspension lift and some other stuff but now I’m questioning whether I have to trade it in or buy a new rear diff

 

Good excuse to regear ;-)

 

If you have never changed your diff fluid I would expect some sludge, etc in it just from initial break-in. I did my front, my transfer case and a drain and fill on my transmission but haven't done the rear yet.

 

My understanding is that some slop when turning the rear wheels by hand is normal but hard to say how much. In the video did you just jack up the one side?

 

@Mach, I would be lying if I said that thought hadn’t come to mind!

Yeah, I expect some, true. I haven’t been able to do it yet because I went to do it and I realized I left my new crush washers at my house! So I’m going to get them I’m done at the hospital.

Yes I’m sure some is normal, the key word being “some”.

No, in the video, I had both tires off the ground. It was jacked up under the differential.